API: Energy boosting U.S. Economy

(UPI) — A study conducted by the U.S. energy industry’s American Petroleum Institute finds the sector is supporting around 8 percent of the nation’s economy.

“Oil and natural gas companies are only one part of a much larger economic success story that is creating job growth up and down the supply chain,” API Upstream Group Director Erik Milito said in a statement.

API published a vendor survey listing more than 30,000 segments across the country tied to U.S. energy sector.

As of 2011, API said the oil and gas industry has supported 9.8 million full- and part-time jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy. Its study found benefits across the board, with the No. 1 state, Texas, boasting 1.9 million energy jobs to the bottom, the District of Columbia, with 13,700 jobs.

API credited the growth to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in shale to the increased economic benefits. In terms of job growth, the industry’s lobbying group said the number of jobs tied directly to shale should increase from 2.1 million to 3.9 million by 2025.

“Thanks to innovations in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, America’s potential as an energy superpower is growing, and businesses of all types are growing with it,” Milito said Tuesday.